International Maritime brief longshore strike in early October and welcomed its first new weekly container service from Zim Integrated Shipping Services , currently has just one 1,400-foot berth allowing it to handle 700,000 TEUs annually . Even as it just reopened , SC Ports said it is opening bids to construct a second , 1,600-foot berth that will approximately double the terminal ’ s current capacity by 2028 . A third expansion that would bring Leatherman ’ s capacity to 2.4 million TEUs could be ready by 2033 .

Near-dock rail coming

While still ramping up its volumes , Leatherman will also serve as the main ocean terminal feeding freight into the Navy Base Intermodal Facility , the adjacent near-dock rail facility connected to Leatherman via a service road . The facility ’ s six rail-mounted gantry cranes are set to be delivered early in 2025 , with the rail yard ’ s 35,000 feet of processing tracks to be opened in July 2025 .

“ That ’ s a pretty exciting thing for a port that did not have on-dock or near-dock rail ,” Melvin said . “ It was really one of the last major disadvantages for us as a top 10 port [ in the US ].”

The Navy Base facility will feed intermodal volumes directly into SC Ports ’ inland ports of Greer and Dillon , which Melvin said “ were shining stars ” in terms of growth and cargo volumes in 2024 , rising about 12 % this year .

About a quarter of the cargo moving through Charleston moves via rail , primarily to the two inland ports , which serve a variety of manufacturers and distributors within the state . Greer itself will also see an expansion that will add 9,000 feet of track , allowing it to handle a 50 % increase in container volumes .

“ Both inland ports showed significant growth , but

Greer is really knocking it out of the park ,” Melvin said . “ It sits in the breadbasket of our state ’ s manufacturing and distribution , close to many metropolitan regions and only a day away from more than 100 million people .”

Further in the future , SC Ports is also working toward the additional development of the North Charleston marine terminal with the purchase this year of an additional 132 acres of land for the planned 400-acre facility .

North Charleston , which can handle 500,000 TEUs per year currently , is draft-restricted due to a bridge that spans Charleston ’ s Cooper River . The South Carolina Department of Transportation has said that it will raise the bridge .

“ You don ’ t hear people talking about whether they ’ re ILA or a state employee . They say they work at the Port of Charleston .”

Once SC Ports secures funding for dredging the Cooper River to a 54-foot depth and the terminal is expanded , North Charleston will add 5 million TEUs of capacity by 2040 , Melvin said .

“ We ’ re very lucky to have the support of our state , and we ’ re going to continue to deliver the infrastructure necessary for not only our ocean carrier customers to have fluid calls here , but our importers and exporters to be able to access their markets ,” she said .

email : michael . angell @ spglobal . com

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